Saying that many of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Chen and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have been "consistently deceiving" the Taiwan-ese people about Taiwanese independence with talk of "one country on either side" of the Taiwan Strait and of a sovereign Taiwan nation, Lien said yesterday.
Implying that the people still believe in the concept of the "Republic of China" over a Taiwan nation, Lien said that Chen should hold a referendum on Taiwanese independence on Dec. 11, the day of the legislative elections, to see if the people believe in defending the "Republic of China" or in declaring independence.
Lien made the comments yesterday while on a break from electioneering at the KMT's Central Standing Committee meeting in Kaohsiung.
The KMT and its pan-blue allies have long claimed that the Chen administration has heightened tensions with China through pro-independence activities, such as debates on Taiwan's national title, as part of its election rhetoric in the 2004 presidential election and in the current run-up to the legislative elections next month.
While Chen said in 2002 that the relationship between Taiwan and China was of nations on either side of the Taiwan Strait, Chen and the DPP have not pushed for a sovereign Taiwanese nation since he became president in 2000. According to the DPP's current party platform, while Taiwanese sovereignty is already a reality, the establishment of a sovereign Taiwan Republic should be decided by plebiscite.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it has lodged a protest with Pretoria after the name of the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa was changed to the “Taipei Commercial Office” on the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s (DIRCO) Web site. In October last year, the South African government asked Taiwan to relocate the Taipei Liaison Office, the nation’s de facto embassy, out of Pretoria. It later agreed to continue negotiating through official channels, but in January asked that the office be relocated by the end of this month. As of the middle of last month, DIRCO’s Web
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